Planning is an inevitable part of any writing. Blogs are something that should not be skimped upon while brainstorming. When you plan ahead of time you not only have a better idea of what to write, but you will be able to use your time more efficiently and be able to have more thorough blog entries.
When I plan, I begin with brainstorming. I think finding your own technique to do this is the best. You are able to know what works best for you. Look at other blogs on this topic. I use a very simple method that I will be sharing. Feel free to try it the next time you don’t know what to write about.
I first start off with the “big categories”. This is anything in your ‘niche’. Underneath those I will put subcategories. What are things and features included under that ‘big category’ . I have ‘RSS Feeds’ as a “big category.” Breaking down that, ‘Get Your Own RSS Feed,’ ‘Ping Your RSS,’ and ‘Managing Your Feeds’ are it’s subcategories. Well, how can you get your own RSS feed? ‘Feedburner ‘allows you to get one. I break that down further, and I am left with “Use Feedburner to get an RSS feed,” and “Use Feedburner to view your blogs stats.”
So, I’m not just left with those two things in the final sub-subcategory, but I have 5 blog entries I could write there. RSS feeds, getting your own feed, Feedburner, use Feedburner to get an RSS feed, and use Feedburner to view your blog stats are all entries that could be written. On top of this all the categories and their subs allow for easy expandability. If I found another RSS tool I could easily insert another subcategory and build up from there.
After I have written and published the article, I add the date after it and hyperlink it to the article online. Why? It helps me track my posts easily. If I need to find it to link it to a newer blog entry, I can do so easily. Using this kind of planning layout makes that simple, as similar categories are grouped together. It also allows me to avoid confusion on whether or not I’ve written an identical blog post before or not.
There are many, many strategies for planning your blog. Using this blogging plan, I made over 60 topics in 30 minutes. Experiment and find a style that makes you the most efficient.
How do you plan your blog entries? Let me know in a comment! Want more blogging tips? Subscribe.
